A father was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for causing the death of his 15-week-old daughter through oral rape.
According to agency reports, Steven Deuman Jr, 26, of Traverse City, Michigan, was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault after jurors – who were subjected to disturbing testimony and photos – took less than an hour to convict him in September.
In August 2011, baby Evelynne Deuman was found in the bedroom of their mobile home bleeding from the nose, unconscious and not breathing.
Deuman wasted valuable time from the moment he found his daughter before calling an ambulance. He later told her mother Natasha Maitland that she had choked on a used condom.
Maitland, who was at work when her daughter died, spoke in federal Judge Gordon Quist’s courtroom in Grand Rapids before the sentencing.
She revealed she had burned and destroyed all evidence she had of Deuman in her life as she does not want any memory of him.
She said: “If I were to describe him, two words stick out – coward and monster. You are a monster for what you did to Evelynne, that you would do such horrific things to take her life.
“I wish I could come up with words to explain how deeply I hurt. I will never hear her first words, see her first steps. You are an evil person.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Green said yesterday the crime was ‘among the most contemptible and horrific crimes one can commit.